Lieberman Steals The Spotlight

TAMARAC — Joseph Lieberman wowed a largely Jewish crowd of senior citizens with a smattering of Yiddish and his now-familiar tale of his immigrant family that survived the Holocaust.

Vice President Al Gore was there almost as an afterthought.

It was clearly Lieberman, the first Jewish vice presidential candidate on a major ticket, who drew most of the attention.

"Where else would the mayor come up to me and say, `Shalom Alecheim,''' Lieberman quipped just after his introduction.

It was the first of many Yiddish phrases Lieberman sprinkled through a speech designed for the audience of more than 750 at the King's Point condominiums. It is part of the Democratic ticket's stepped-up battle for Florida.

Every hint of Jewish culture brought sighs of sympathy and laughter from the crowd in the condominium's Cabaret Royale theater, where signs stated that next month residents will hear the Yiddish and English songs of Gustel Berkowitz.

"This is our man. This is our man," said Sherman Stone, 86, of Tamarac.

Said Sy Gold, 79: "He's real Haimisher," using the Yiddish term for being unpretentious like a beloved family member.

Stone-faced Secret Service agents had a hard time keeping Lieberman from being overrun by gushing senior citizens after his speech.

"The reception was great. This was his crowd and we loved him," said Mark Sultanof, the Democratic political leader of the condominium and a Tamarac city commissioner.

Gore even caught the fever in his speech after Lieberman, managing a Tennessee-accented "Mazel Tov,'' the Hebrew phase that means good luck.

But where Lieberman's speech was all feeling, playing on the audience's emotions, Gore's was analytical. He promoted his tax cut plan, which would provide a $3,000 tax credit for families with long-term medical care needs, and repeated his pledge to add coverage for prescription drugs to Medicare.

"I have talked with people who have bills for pills that are bigger than their Social Security monthly checks," Gore said as a number of audience members nodded.

Gore was introduced by Jill Mosovich, a Coral Springs woman who described the financial pressures of caring for her ailing 83-year-old mother and her teen daughter. Gore said he could help such families with his plan.

During his speech, the vice president generally avoided attacking the Republican ticket, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas and former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. The campaign, as is the practice of both major parties, left that to e-mail sent to the media after the speech.

According to Gore's campaign, a Florida couple earning $60,000 and caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimer's disease would receive a $3,000 tax credit and another $225 from marriage-penalty relief under the vice president's plan.

"Bush's plan would only provide this family with $1,260 in tax relief," the media e-mail said.

Within minutes, Bush's Florida campaign countered with its own e-mail.

"Since Gore became vice president in 1993, there has been an increase of 8 million uninsured Americans -- a 19.7 percent increase," the Bush campaign said.

After his speech, Gore met with a dozen reporters from Florida newspapers to expand on several of the themes from his speech and touch on several others tailored to this state's voters.

Answering a question from a Spanish-language newspaper in Miami-Dade County, Gore said flatly, "I don't want anything to do with Castro. . . I want to celebrate the end of the Castro regime in a Gore presidency."

Gore also pledged to reform immigration laws, making it easier for families to be reunited. He also said his administration would require immigration officials to treat immigrants politely.

The day's campaigning, spent entirely in south Florida, is part of Gore's increasing emphasis on this state. The Democrats started a new television campaign in Florida this week emphasizing the ticket's pledge to protect Social Security.

Asked whether Gore would pull his campaign out of Florida at the last minute as President Bill Clinton did in 1992, the vice president said, "Absolutely not. I'm determined to win Florida."

Gore will be back in Florida on Monday, appearing at a public event in Tallahassee with his wife, Tipper Gore, then he and Lieberman will return in September.

Gore said he was "not convinced" that the political network of Gov. Jeb Bush, the GOP nominee's brother, would make a difference in the Florida race.

Reached in Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush said, "Look, this is going to be a contested race. . .It's a battleground state. It'll help our state in that sense. But I believe my brother is going to win."

Campaigns take money, and the Democratic candidates went from Kings Point to the Parkland home of Mitchell and Hope Berger, where Gore and Lieberman made remarks that covered much of the same ground as their speeches in Tamarac.

Like Mitchell Berger, many of the guests at the $10,000-per-couple dinner were part of the Broward legal and political elite. Among those dining with Gore and Lieberman were lawyers Mike Moskowitz, Alan Becker and Jan Atlas; political insiders Austin, Hamilton and Charles Forman; and Palm Beach County commissioner Burt Aaronson.

Berger said he expects to raise $600,000.

Staff Writer Mark Hollis contributed to this report.

Buddy Nevins can be reached at bnevins@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4571.

Steve Friess can be reached at sfriess@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6636.